TEHRAN, Iran – The Iranian government approved a plan Sunday to
build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion in
defiance of U.N. demands it halt the program.

The decision comes only two days after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency censured Iran,
demanding it immediately stop building a newly revealed enrichment
facility near the holy city of Qom and freeze all uranium enrichment
activities.

A Cabinet meeting headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
to begin building five uranium enrichment sites that have already been
studied and propose five other locations for future construction within
two months.

In Vienna, spokeswoman Gillian Tudor said the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency
would have no comment. But the announcement is likely to stoke already
high tensions between Iran and the West over its controversial nuclear
activities.

Iran has one industrial-scale uranium enrichment plant near Natanz, in central Iran. The IAEA said earlier this month that about 8,600 centrifuges had been set up in Natanz, but only about 4,000 were enriching uranium. The facility will eventually house 54,000 centrifuges.

The newly revealed enrichment site, known as Fordo, is a small scale site that will house nearly 3,000 centrifuges.

IRNA said the Cabinet ordered that the 10 new sites have a scale equal to Natanz's.